


Rooftop Showdown

by Cr0wsnest



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Blood, Blood and Injury, Fluff, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Other, but also everyone playing borderlands should be 18+, but also very fluffy at the end so, rated for language, rest in piece lazy river land
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:35:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29416485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cr0wsnest/pseuds/Cr0wsnest
Summary: Katagawa attacks on the rooftop, a different story.
Relationships: Rhys/Zer0 (Borderlands)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 27





	Rooftop Showdown

**Author's Note:**

> I’m too weak to actually write one of them dying so you don't have to worry about that.

This had to be one of the worst days of his life. First his favorite froyo shop, then lazy river land, and then some asshole breaks in as his partner and kills a bunch of his workers— it had to stop. 

He tripped over himself as he was running. Barely saving his face by catching himself with his prosthetic arm. He couldn’t run anymore. Rhys turned, facing the intruder. 

“Your time is up now, Rhys.”

“I know you're not them, Asshole!” Man, would this be awkward if it was. He counted on his fingers quickly, “Ha! Too many syllables!”

They didn’t say anything. Still strutting towards him, raising their sword.

He shielded himself with his arms, daring to look away. So, this was it. To be fair, he never even thought he’d make it this far.

A crash. It probably wasn’t a good idea to look, but he took the chance. His head wasn’t removed from his shoulders so that was a good sign anyway.

“Zer0! Where were you?!” He smiled, relieved. 

They didn’t respond, too focused on the fight. The imposter was good, but not good enough. Their helmet knocked off onto the cement by a precise hit. 

“Katagawa. Ew.” Zer0 held their fighting stance.

He wiped the blood from his nose, giving Rhys the second most intimidating death glare he’d ever seen. Once again, he raised his sword. 

“You should have joined the family, Rhys. Imagine what we could have done together! Look what you’re making me do.” 

That sounded all too familiar. Why did all these narcissistic bastards all use the same lines?

Zer0 reached out for Rhys and he took their hand. The familiar blue voxels appeared around them, but then vanished all at once. 

‘?’

“Did you think I’d make it that easy to get away from me?!” Katagawa laughed. The sword came down swiftly. Rhys didn’t have time to move even slightly before he was tackled to the side. A hand cradled the back of his head to prevent it from slamming into the harsh concrete. 

“Oh, come on! I don’t want you!” Katagawa growled.

Gunshots rang in his ears. What did that mean and how in the Hell did he manage to cut off Zer0’s decepti0n? Rhys knew Maliwan had good tech, but this? This could turn out worse than he could have imagined. 

Rhys opened his eyes, Zer0 already pulling him to his feet to run. He heard several different voices shouting- profanities and threats towards their Mailiwan attacker.

“Come on. The safe room. The vault hunters will fight him. He’s not worth the time.”

“Go, guys, we got this!” They heard one of the vault hunters yell, followed by heavy gunfire.

“Y-Yeah… Time to go.” Rhys huffed, only then noticing the blood that saturated the fabric on Zer0’s thigh, “Oh my God. Come on.” He took the lead this time. Every other second he looked behind them to make sure that their attacker was distracted. Pretty hard to do when the enemy has like ten clones of themselves.

They were almost to the roof access door. Almost in the clear. The vault hunters would take care of Katagawa and everything would go back to normal after a few months of repairs.

Then there was a splatter of blood— and it wasn’t his.

Zer0 stumbled to the ground.

“No!”

Katagawa had shot them. The bullet through the armor, tearing its way through their chest.He could already feel the hot sting of tears. In his best attempt, he tried to drag them behind one of the AC units, safe from any more bullets. 

“Zer0? Hey, you gotta speak to me. I don’t even care about the haiku at this point- please?”

‘:(‘

“That’s not speaking!” Rhys cried, trying to find any way to stop the bleeding.

“I’ll be okay, Rhys. You need to get somewhere safe. You cannot stay here.”

“Neither can you! You’re bleeding out!”

An explosion shook the roof. 

“Can you try the teleport thing again? What happened to your shield?!” He took off his Atlas vest and held it to the exit wound, trying to stop any bleeding he could. 

Zer0 managed to raise a hand and point. Rhys followed, right down to see the shield clipped to his belt, “When did you-“ He let out a groan of frustration and scanned the area. 

The access hatch was only about ten yards away. They could make a run for it, but the opening of the hatch itself would definitely attract unwanted attention. Plus, he wasn’t sure how fast they could go with Zer0’s injuries. He needed the vault hunters to keep Katagawa distracted enough that they could safely escape.

Holding up his hand, he broadcasted a message to their ECHOs, “I need you to get him off the roof or at least to the East side. We can't reach the roof access door with the chance of him seeing us.” He glanced worriedly to Zer0. In a time like this he really hated that mask, he couldn’t tell if their eyes were shut or not. Their breathing was shallow enough to worry anybody. 

“Affirmative.”

“Maybe we can kick the lickarse off! There's a courtyard below, yeah?

Rhys peeked across to the fight, “Yeah, yeah. Just- please hurry?” He was growing impatient. He kept trying to talk to Zer0, trying to keep them conscious. 

“I told you- I’m fine.”

“You literally have a hole in your chest! Don’t give me that!” Tears we’re still streaming down his face, eyes puffy and red.

Zer0 lifted a hand and wiped some of the tears from his face, “I just needed a break, Rhys.” They paused, listening for any gunshots or explosions. “They’re gone. We can go.” 

Rhys looked up to find no vault hunters and no Katagawa. They had managed to lead him away. He immediately put his robotic arm around Zer0, pulling them up as carefully as he could. 

“I am not fragile.” 

“You’re very talkative for someone who just got shot in the chest.” He sniffled.

“Hit the artificial lung. No real organs harmed.” 

‘:)’

Rhys stopped, the assassin almost tripping at the sudden lack of movement.

“You- What? Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?! I thought you were dying!”

“Technically, I tried. I told you I would be fine.”

“I am— You are not getting any cuddles for the ENTIRE WEEK.” He wiped his face with his sleeve.

‘!’ 

“You wouldn’t…” 

Rhys looked back up at them, choking a laugh out, and captured them in a hug. 

“No. I don’t think I’m strong enough for that, but we really should get out of here now.”

“Agreed.”

“So, how do we fix your- your parts- wait, no. You’re lung. What does that even mean, artificial lung?” 

“They weren’t strong enough. Different species mixing- not the best idea. Some organs are weak, I needed a little help. Some were replaced.” 

“Oh! That’s what those scars were!” Rhys grunted as he lifted the roof hatch, “That’s kind of cool though! Does your chest hurt though? What about your thigh?” 

“Yes. Like living Hell.” 

“R-Right. Of course it does. You were- you were shot. Do you want me to carry you?”

“Down an access hatch? You can’t.” 

“Oh, you doubt my abilities! I will coddle the living daylights out of you!” 

He strutted over, rolling up his sleeves on the way. Zer0 crossed their arms, amused that he was even attempting to try. 

“You’re going t-“

‘!’ 

Rhys struggled momentarily, but was able to lift them into his arms very easily. They gripped onto his shirt, scared to be dropped. 

“Woah! Haha, I didn’t think I could do it! I think most of the weight is your armor, which could actually use an upgrade apparently.” He grinned. 

“...I adore you, Rhys.”

And still, after years of being together, he blushed, “I know. I love you too. Let’s go get you fixed up.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this one out real quick today. Might next idea is less Rhys-centric so I hope it’s still interesting enough to look forward to. Hint: Vaughn.


End file.
